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comment is free Sencl8OOwofd (0tI'If'nentS to c:omm41nt. buslneuch!yonlllM.c:om
BUSINESSOAY: *~ilne.qIn:I
Thursday 08 March 2012
An agrarian revolution
mull' (H/SARD)
I
' m all'lays 011 Ihe prow l
fu r Aftlca " thoughl lead ers. lA , 1 ye.... ul>on leading abou t ThomllS Sunlat. of
Burlln. Faso and h is pla1l 10 make h is cQUnlry se.lf-sufftdenl
through Ihl' empowerment o f farmen. I ~'ias moved. Not con · lent with politlcaJ independenct'. 100mlS s., nu.n11 worked 10 make
Burkina Fa!'o a n economiull y independem nation, Ihu5 CUllins neo-coloni.l des with the W~t.
UnforlUna,dy, he was usa55l · naled In a cou p d 'h:al before hb vi sion could txocome reality. but hb theories hawcol1llnued lolnspire many Ah'ia llll and pan-Africanls!! the world over. Indeed. Atria has had he. fair share of o lutlo na ties - from Sanlrnra to Nkrumah to M andela
I". .
- many of .,em espoushlg Ide ahl of rr~dom and jus lice. One leader IMI ~ hardly talked .bou t IJ:Amilau Cabral. Yel his Iepc)' Is
\~ry Imponanl forcol1lelllporary Afro. Cabral was a nationalist , agronomlsl and wrller who )ed the na llonaUst movements in Guinea Bissau and CalM! Venle In the 1!tOO! and 19705. lie led dM! Inde penden ce war against the Portuguese In romler POrtuguese colonies. founding the African I'any for the Inde)lendence of Guinea Bissau and CaI>C Ve:rde (PAIGe). Upon the completion of his second.ry school studies. CabntJ went to Portugal wlM!fe he n!Ct'h-ed education III agronomy at the Instltllt SUperior de Agro 1I0mla. l-h\\'ln8 been trained In Western techniques. h e decided 10 use thaI education for the: good of Cape Verde While In Usbon. he founded s tudents' movemel1ls for the bettennent o f people on the AIrlcan comlnent, So great was his ,Jasslon for Ihe mothel'land thaI rather than focus 011 lOme technique UI a lludtc:r, he decided 10 write hlsdlMer1ation on the COIldiuons of fannen in CaiN! Verde and the t"Xploilation of f.. rmcfl by Portuguese adlllinlstnl10rs This was a very radical m ove which could have cost Cabral h is degree. Undetened, Cabral took the chance and presenled his paper Shortl y afte r setting his degree, Cabral answl!led ~ call to go back home. And thaI was how this agronomist became the leader o f his people and their
fre:edOIll fighler. lie spent his firS! weeks lOuring the countryside anti Interacting with ranners In Older 10 l("8m lIIore abou t d}r!h living and working conditions. Ilavi ng built a
I continue to wait for the day Nigeria will produce a remarkable agrarian thought leader Ukc Cabral who will not onty usher in a mass rcvolulion by sendbig us back to the fanlls and agro-allied industries, bUI will aJso lead lhe country lnto a long-Iasdng era of economic independence and prosperity.
51mng team committed to the a nticolonial snuggle. he launc hed h is war effort againsl the PorlUgUCSl':. l hls ""as no small reat, as Ca br.1 soon discovered. li e a lso realised Ihal III order 10 I IISlain the war e ffort, Ihe troops had to deJlr!nd on food crops. To this e:nd, h e rorged Jill aUllm a! belween his troops anti local country fanne rs In which thl': former laughl Ihe: laller belle:r farmi ng Icchnlques In orde:r to increase thei r yie:ld. At seve:raJ dm~ the troops ~n tilled Ihe soli with the farmers. Not o nly ~re these farmen able 10 then feed Ihe troops. they we:re a lso better Jlble 10 feed their fllmlII~
To subvert Ihe International malkee, CablllJ o rganised trade by banf'C' bazaa-D whne people could purchase Ita ple roods at Pflces lower than Ih ose fixed b y the exploltlldve Portuguese admini. Uators a nd merchant.. Altho ugh Cabral was assassina ted befo re the indelH! ndence slruggle was won. he IJeca,nte a nar.lonal hero In Cape Verde and Guinea IJissau. Th e:fe are three take-a ways from cabral's legacy. folrsl and foremost. agricul lura l ec0l10111 Ics Is • very Im portant part of our national transformation agenda While civil freedom Is Import.III, economic freedom must be sou ght after. a nti In sodetiessuch as OUB. agricultunJ e:m powe.rmcnt (pro dud ng whal we eat) is central 10 dlisagend • •
Secondl y, p'Olicy can not be e ffective U I~ ple who afe to g;tln from lhe policy are n'Ot Involvnl orconsulted. 1t Il lhus ~ Impol lanl ror ew!ryleader,.,ilodailns 10 Ipeakb a gwu pof peopletO have 1I1eladonship wllh dM!m. lhis will belle r position him 10 learn rrom Ihem and collal>orate with them 10 meet their needs. l.aslly, whiff' an agriculturlll backgr'Ound is • good Incubato r for farmers lind agro· business lIM!n, tllis bK~roUlKi can also be • groolllln(l; grourKI ror national lead ers and revo lutio naries. FUf · thermo re, wheliler In agriculture 'Or In any otiler sector. leadership and Inlegrily ale ley. One muSl a lways s t a nd up for what one: believes In and aOOys uphokt the greater good of the nation And o ne must Ie:ave a legacy thai will Inspire the next ge neration I continue 10 wait for dIe d ay Nigeria will produce a rl':mark· able agrarian Ihuught leader like Cabral who will no t only ushe r In • mass revolution by ~ndlng us bad: to the: fanns and agro· ~Ik!d Industries. but will a l50 lead the country Into a 10ng. l.s ung e:ra of economic Independence and prosperity
Burma's turn .5IVIz 1$ l,howrstly Pro/e$$a Bllh UnbiIt ~. NobeI.IIueaIe J1 ec:onomt:s. rtd Ihe author 01 FretIhI. Free ~ Ifld the SnI<i1golr.
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(c) Pr'O'fJCI S)ondicate
erl' In Myanmar (Bunna), wlKf'f' potilical dwlge has been numbi ngly .dow fO I • half-a:OIUI), a new leadership ls U)i"8 10 embrace rapkl mmsition £rum wittun. lhe gO\'eIlUTlC'nt has fieed ~hkaillmones, hdd e1ec· rion, (Wllh 1110re on the way). begun economic rdonn. and is Inlensi~ courting foreil'lil1WSlmenL Understandably, the Internationa! comml.lrUty, which has long pUrUshro t.lynnmar 's aulhontarian
H
~widlllnctiol\S.renWnscau
tious. ltfofon ..... ~ being Introduced so Fasllhm !!Yen renow1l('d ~ on thecoulliry lu e uncertain about what to male of them. Built isde:trto melhaldLismo ntent ln M,-.uuJ\M's history repre$II!SllS.B I eal OI>pOr1wLity in perrna nent c:harqoe an opponunlty thaI the Inlemation~ community muSt not miss. II is time for the world 10 ~ the agt!!lda for Myanmar for,.,wd, nol ~ 154 byofferlng assisIance, but by R!f1lOV ng the sanctions that ~'!I! fKM ~ome an impedimenl
to UM! COUIllry'S mmslormalk>n. So fa l, thaI transformation, Inhiated following legislative elec· tions In N~ml)CJ 20 I 0, has been breathtaking.. With the m ilitary, which had held t"Xclu,i~ power from 1962. retalnJfl8 some 25' of the: 5ealS, u)CIe "''t'fC Jean that the: election would be • fac;ade. 8U1 the SO'ftTlment that elT~fged has tWlled 00110 rcl1ect fundamental concemsorMyarunar'sdtizensfar bellel than was antidpluL'tI Underthe Ieadc.nhJp of the new Illdident. lhetn Setn, the authorities haYe respooded to calls for- a political and economic opening. Ptogres5 has hem made 011 ~ agreements with ethnk:· mll-;ry insurgenls - confl kl5 rooted In the divlde·and -rule s trategy of colonialism. which the country's post.independence ru}cn; maintillned for n'lon! dWlIl six dec:atJes. The NobeIlaumlte Dew AUI18 San Suo K}i Wii5 not only rrlea5ed from house arrest. but is nowcampaignIng hard for a pariiaJ-nt:lllary snt In April's by·clections. On the l'COnomk: £mnL wtpreCedl':l1led transp.rency has been Introduced In to the budgetary process. Expenditures o n health care and I':ducatlon have been doubled, albeit rrom a low base l.icensing It'Suictions In II number of ~ arl!"as ha"'!I! been loosened. lhe government has even COlli ' lIIilled Itself 10 moving IOwalds Wlif)ing itscornliicati'!d eu:fWlgerate system.
lhe spirit of hope In (he coumry palpable. thou g h lo me o lder p00p6e. who &"1W eartter moments of IIpparent relu:trion or aUlhorilarian n tle colne and go. remain Ciludous. PerhBps thaI Is why lOme In the In· lemalional collununity an! 5imi1ar1y hesltanl aboul easing Myanmar 's Isolation But most BumteSe sell~ Ihal Ir changes are lIIallaged well, dle country will ~ emlJarked on a n IrreveBible course. In February, I p llrtlcl palcd In semInars In Yangon (Rangoon ) and Ihe recently constructed ca pital, N.ypyidaw, organl~ by one or dle country's leading econ omists, U ~tytnL lheevmtswenemomentous, owing botll 10 large and 3Cllvely engaged l1udlenc~ ( more than. tho uland In Yangon), and 10 tile tho ughtrul and movi ng presentadons by two world-famous lkinllf':!le eamotnImwho had 1di d teoountly in the 1960's and were bad: rot thdr firs vfsit inlllOfe than fou, (1eClMkS. My Columbl. University colleague Ronald l:mdIay poillled oot thai one or them, 9 1-year-Old Ilia Mylnt, who had held a" rofessorship Ill lhe l.Dodon School of F.cooolllk:s. WM the bdln or the most IJI.JCassful IS
devftopcnem strategy tM!r devised. dial of anope:n economy ..Ki export-
led growth. lhat ~ueprinl has hem used throughoUI AsIa In recml decades. mosc notably In Ollna. Now, perhaps. It has fino"lily corne home. I ddiYered a leaure In M)"dlUna, in l)eaornber 2009. AI. dUll time, one had to be carefut, given the SO'ftTl-
IDcm's sensithities. eYl!fl abou l how one fi-arne:d lhe country's problems - its JXM!f1)', lackof rural producdv· Ity, and unskilled wo~rce. Now caution has been re placed by a sense or urgency In de aling wtth these and Olhec" challerlges. ..Ki by awareness of the need ledmlcal and other fonl1~ or assi:slarx:e (Rdati~ to its popuIalioo and Income, Myanmar Is one or th e: world 's smallest reClpiel llS of imenlo.'ltional assl5lance) lhen! i!t much debate about ",11o"1t eJ:j)lains the JaI)ldiry of Myamnar's current pace or chan ge. Pel haps irs leaders recognized that the country. once the ,.,-orld's largeM rice f!Xr-1er; was raIling far behind lIS nclghboB. I'erhal's they heard um messagt! o f the Arab Spring. 01 simply understood lhat, with more than three millio n Bumte§e living abroad, it ""as Impossible to lsoble the country from Ihe rest of lhe world or preYecll kJeas £rum seeping In from Its ncighl.'OfS. Whalever Ihe reason, c hange Is occurring. and the opportunity d101t it represcnts is wtdenlable. Hu t many of Ihe In lentatlona l sanaions, whatcverthr!irrolein tiM'; past. nowseem COlIl1terproducdve. Financial saOClioos. lor w ta nce, dlKOuntge tiM'; development or a rnociec-n and transparent finandal system, inlegnued wi th the rest o f Ihe world. The lesulting cash oosed eamorny Is an lnvltalion 10 "",",>don. Ub:wIse, rcsuictions thai pre-
ror
venl sodalJy ,-esponsibk compa flies based In advanced industrial £rum doing business In MyalUnar ha~ k!ft dM! rldd open to Icssscrupuluusfinns. Weshould wdcome Mya nmar's desire for guidance and advice £rum multi · lau~raJ 1n5lilUtions and !he Uniled Na tions De\.-elopment Program ; Instead. we continue to limit the role that these: Institutiolls can play in dIe counuy's tmnsilion. Whe n ever we withhold as sillance or 11II1){J5C sanctions. we need to think carefully abou t who bears dle burdel in bringil18aboul the changes d\at we.sed.. Openil'8 up trnde in agriculture and tatiJes - and CYeTI IlIOVkIlng preferences or UlC Idnd thm ate oUem.! to OUtef poor countries - would IIkdy ben efil dlroctty tiM! I)()(JI fanners who make up 70'1. o f the IXlpUlalion. as wclIasaealenewpbs. lhe",wthy and powerful can drcumvent H· nandaI sanc.tlons. though at .~; ordinary citizens canno4 so easily CSOIj>e the IlIIpact or lnlemation ulIJariah $latus.. We h~ seen dle Arab Spring blossom haltingly In a few coun· tries; 111 others, it Is still tmttrtaln wheeher it wW bear fmiL Myan mar's tnln~lioli Is In some ways quie:ler, without the fanfare of Twiner and r~ but It Is no less real - .nd no less dnening 01 sul'llOfl. COUIluie:s